You should always call the emergency number 112 in an urgent, actual emergency when someone’s life, health, or property or the environment is in jeopardy, or if you suspect this may be the case.
Only one emergency number, 112, is used in Finland.
You can call 112 even if your cell phone uses a foreign service provider. There is no need to dial a country or area code. The emergency number 112 is toll free and requires no area code in all EU countries.
Dialling the emergency number
If the emergency number is temporarily busy, do not hang up! You will hear a recording instructing you to wait on the line for a moment. Emergency calls will be picked up as quickly as possible, always in the order they are placed.
When you call the emergency number 112:
- Answer questions
- Follow the instructions you are given
- End the call only when permitted to do so
During the phone call, the emergency response centre operator will assess the urgency of the need for help based on the information given, and send the appropriate help to the scene. The emergency response centre has no obligation to dispatch an ambulance to a destination simply on request; they will always make the decision to dispatch based on a risk assessment.
Emergency medical services urgency classification
| A class call | An emergency medical assignment with high risk, with reason to suspect based on preliminary or event information that the victim’s basic vital functions are immediately threatened. This is an urgent dispatch and seeks to assist the person in need immediately. The emergency vehicle will use audible and visual emergency signals. |
| B class call | An emergency medical assignment with a probable high risk, but with no certainty on the status of the victim’s basic vital functions. This is an urgent dispatch and seeks to assist the person in need immediately. The emergency vehicle will use audible and visual emergency signals. |
C class call | The victim’s basic vital functions are evaluated to be stable or only mildly disrupted, but they are nevertheless in need of quick emergency medical evaluation. This is classified as a miscellaneous urgent dispatch and seeks to assist the person in need of help within 30 minutes of the call. The emergency vehicle will not use audible and visual emergency signals. |
D class call | The person in need of help is stable and has no disruption of basic vital functions, but is in need of an evaluation of the need for care by the emergency medical services. This is not classified as an urgent dispatch. It seeks to assist the person in need of help within two hours of the call. The emergency vehicle will not use audible and visual emergency signals. |
| No emergency medical services dispatched due to call | Not always will an emergency call lead to the dispatch of emergency medical services. Such a situation can occur when, for example, the person in need of help is in stable condition, has no disruption of basic vital functions, and is capable of using their own transportation to reach the nearest emergency room for an assessment of the need of care. |